The Day My World Changed
by Tigerlily06
Summary: The day Horatio Caine's parents died changed his life forever. This is a glimpse at that tragic event.


Horatio noticed his mother's car in the driveway of the house she was renting off her half-sister. He didn't like the fact that she was home so early from work. It could only mean one thing; time for them to pack up and move again.

"Ray, I want you to go to Mrs. Johnson's," he told his little brother.

"He's back, isn't he?" Ray asked with fear in his voice.

"I don't know, Ray," Horatio admitted. "But, mom being home this early isn't a good sign."

"I don't want to move again, Horatio," Ray said. "I like it here. I've got friends and all. I wish he would leave us alone."

"Me too, Ray," Horatio replied. "Me too."

&/&/&

Michael Caine towered over his wife.

"You thought I wouldn't find you this time, didn't you?" he growled as he backed her toward the wall.

Rosalind Caine didn't answer. She knew from painful experience not to speak until her husband was finished speaking.

"Answer me, bitch!"

Rosalind merely nodded. She steeled herself for the slap she knew that would be coming, but it didn't. That was when she realized that he was going to toy with her.

"Thought Angelina would protect you?"

"Yes," Rosalind breathed.

"Angelina only helps herself," Michael Caine purred.

Rosalind closed her eyes and silently prayed to God to end her misery and keep her boys safe.

&/&/&

Horatio cautiously opened the front door to the house. He slipped his hand into his right coat pocket and gripped the gun that resided there.

If his father was back to disrupt their lives, then Horatio vowed that today would be the last time. He didn't want to use the gun. It wasn't the solution to his family's problem, but he knew how to and that was all that mattered to him.

His youthful ears picked up the unmistakable sound of a raised voice and he knew without a doubt that his father had found them again.

Horatio tried to send his brother to Mrs. Johnson again, but he refused to leave. "I'm not going to leave you and Mom to deal with that asshole," he told Horatio in a hoarse whisper.

Horatio wanted to admonish him for his language, but there would hopefully be a better time and place.

"I told you last time, you fucking whore," growled a deep male voice. "If you left me again, I would hunt you down and kill you!"

Horatio stopped in his tracks and Raymond bumped into him. Both watched in stunned silence as their father shook their mother as if she were some old rag doll.

Thud.

Raymond's backpack had fallen from his boney shoulder. It caused Michael Caine to look in their direction. He let go of his wife and she fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Her head hit the corner of the coffee table.

Crack.

The sound was deafening in the nearly silent room.

Horatio felt Raymond brush pass him and attack their father with a growl of youthful anger. He watched in sickening fascination as their father backhand the pre-teen. Raymond landed against the wall and slid down it to form a whimpering pile of awkward limbs.

The father went after Raymond only to be stopped by the sound of a gun being cocked. He swung to face Horatio.

He laughed.

Horatio pointed the gun at his father silently praying that his hands wouldn't shake as fear coursed through his gangly frame. He had stood up to Michael Caine many times only to be beaten bloody for his trouble.

"You think that peashooter makes you a real man?" his father taunted him.

"Do you think beating the hell out of innocent people makes you one?" Horatio countered. A wave of calmness washed over him as the adrenaline finally kicked in. "Go away. You've taken enough from this family."

"Think you got the balls to shoot me in cold blood, boy?" Michael Caine stood his ground. He would out wait his oldest son and then he would teach him a lesson he would never forget.

Horatio licked his lips. He pulled the trigger.

Bang.

The sound deafened Horatio. He watched in mute horror as his father clutched his chest and fell to his knees. His father pulled his hand away and stared at it in shocked surprise.

Blood.

Blood spurted from the hole in his father's chest. He collapsed onto the floor his mouth opening and closing as he tried to get air into his lungs.

Several bloody gasps later and Michael Caine was dead. Blood still spilled from his chest as his heart frantically tried to keep doing its job.

Horatio dropped the gun. He went and checked on his mother, but he knew that she was dead. As she had fallen, her temple had struck the corner of the coffee table.

Next, he went and checked on Raymond. He carefully cradled him in his lap as he waited for the police to arrive. They lived in a neighborhood where the neighbors looked after one another and a gun shot would certainly be reported.

"It's just us now, Ray," he told Raymond. "You and me against the world. Just you and me."

The End


End file.
